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Dr. Martino

Dr. Martino is a high energy, garage rock trio influenced by 60s pop and surf music. Sharing songwriting duties, Amy Shaw and Simone Puleo compose sharp guitar and vocal driven pop songs, propelled by the booming, wild drumming of Mike Kaminski. The music of Dr. Martino rifles through a gambit of retro genres, and the lyrics from song to song evoke a spectrum of emotions and moods, from humorous to melancholy, nostalgic to forward-looking.

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Beginning as a loud and raucous 6-member rock group in South Florida, they released their debut LP, Right to Work, in July of 2013. Produced by Jason Hester and Rancho Molino Records, Right to Work is full of chaos, humor, and experimentation, with a penchant for 70s progressive rock. Right to Work featured Puleo as senior songwriter and Kaminski as lead guitarist and keyboardist.

After relocating to Willimantic, Connecticut, in the fall of 2013, the group went through a major line-up change as Kaminski and Puleo teamed up with songwriter Amy Shaw. During this transition, Puleo stayed in his role as guitarist, while Shaw took over the bass, and Kaminski the drums. Shaw and Puleo began sharing roles as songwriters, often swap instruments at shows.

Dr. Martino released Big Day EP in August of 2014 as a trio, which featured a familiarly eclectic array of styles, from the mischievous punk tune “Hollywood Coprophagia” to the vintage rock ballad “Some Kind of Kneelin’.” The EP was recorded by Matt Baltrucki at the Hartt School in Hartford, Connecticut. Big Day is independently released on CD and cassette. Right to Work and Big Day EP are also available digitally on Spotify, Bandcamp, and Youtube.

In 2016, the band released Calligrams, a comp with fellow Connecticut artists Spectral Fangs, Terrible Roars and Ghost of Chance. Dr. Martino contributed their cheeky food anthem “Clean Plate Club” and an explosive rock tune, “Anna May,” which featured Amy Shaw as lead vocalist. Calligrams is available on 12″ vinyl at calligrams.bandcamp.com.

The band has played with Surferblood, Bob Log III, Downtown Boys, Beach Day, Ski Lodge, Moonhoney, Semicircle (members of Reptar), MC Frontalot, and Superhuman Happiness. They made an appearance at New London’s I AM Fest in 2015, which featured Rubblebucket, And the Kids, Violent Mae and others. Currently, Dr. Martino continues to perform regularly at house shows, parties, venues, and festivals in the greater NY/NE area.